1650–60, < North American French; French: low hill, mound, Old French: landmark, target, apparently feminine derivative of but butt 2
A butte is a flat-topped hill that stands alone in a relatively flat area. There are many buttes in the Southwest and Western United States. The dramatic hills in the background of old Western films are often buttes — the director John Ford featured Arizona's Mitten Buttes in seven of his movies. Geographers distinguish between a butte and a mesa, a larger, flat-topped hill: a butte's top is narrower than it is tall, and a mesa's is wider than its height. The explorers Lewis and Clark are responsible for introducing this French word to English speakers.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Borgquist assures me as we drive to the top that I’ll soon understand why this steep butte is perfect for energy storage.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024
An Oregon butte unfortunately titled “Swastika Mountain” will be getting a new name in the near future.
From Washington Times • Aug. 24, 2022
Perhaps it was Shorty’s, waiting to take guests back down the butte that day.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2022
One cold winter solstice day, we found ourselves alone on the summit of a rock-topped butte, watching transfixed as a huge black cloud barreled toward us in an otherwise blue sky.
From New York Times • Mar. 18, 2022
“I don’t know what America’s thinking was,” said Jerrod as the pickup edged its way to a little butte rising out of the stubble and the rock.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
